


Adventures in the playground

by Tinamour



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Crack Fic, Gen, Kids, Mention of alcohol, Multi, and I got ideas, and Leo is...well...Leo, and we went to the playground, because I'm babysitting my cousins, could be worst though, kid is cute, playground time, so hi baby Giulio!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 04:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinamour/pseuds/Tinamour
Summary: Leo, Zo and Riario babysit Giulio while Vanessa goes to a job interview.





	Adventures in the playground

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up ten years later with Riario's sunglasses and a Starbucks* CRACKFIC!!!  
> I went to the playground with my cousins and ideas swarmed by for the first time in months. So there. Enjoy my very cracky ideas :p Thanks a bunch to OverthinkingPanda for reading through :)

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

“Vanessa, darling, I have a gift for childcare. And we’re going to have so much fun together, right buddy?” Zo attempted to high-five Giulio and the toddler clapped his hand on his with a burst of laughter. “Let’s look for Leo, he’s got all that cool new paint. You can do a very ugly painting for Mom and Dad to hang in their living room.”

Zo disappeared in the hallway that led to Leo’s office-art studio-bedroom, Giulio clinging to him like a koala to a tree.

Vanessa’s fingers hovered near the zipper of her purse. Maybe it wasn’t too late to call off the interview.

“They’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

Riario was incredibly calm, and his low voice and reassuring smile helped Vanessa settle down a tad.

“Thank you. And thank you again for dropping me there.”

Riario’s smile widened. “My pleasure. Shall we?”

Vanessa gave one more worried glance at the hallway, in which she could hear Giulio’s happy babbling as he told Leo everything about preschool and his friends and how Mom and Dad were considering getting a dog he could play with and…

Vanessa closed the door of her friends’ flat, mentally rehearsing her assets and work experiences. She had a whole car ride to practice the interview with Riario, and to make sure she would get that job.

 

#

 

“We can’t go to the zoo, we need the money for food.”

“Right...I guess we can’t keep him inside all day, right buddy? And Nessa will kill us if we leave him in front of the TV.”

Leo fiddled a moment with the handle of his coffee cup. “Playground?”

“Playground.”

It took twenty minutes to gather everything; sunscreen, cap, Giulio’s gourd (the silver one with a large “Medici” written in red, with the family crest above it. It was tacky as could be, but Giulio would go nowhere without it ever since Giuliano had brought it back from a business trip.), snacks, car keys, phone, towels to sit on, a book in case Giulio got bored, a notebook for Leo to sketch in…

The playground was buzzing with activity, but they managed to find a spot in the shade, near the pirate boat, which Giulio loved. Leo got the short straw and had to take first turn keeping an eye on him.

It wasn’t that hard. Giulio was very much in his own world but still liked an audience when it came to sharing his thoughts, which could range from the latest cartoons he had watched to why the sky was blue. And since Leo was in his own world too...They met somewhere in the middle.

“Did you lose him yet?”

Riario settled in the grass next to Zo, with very little regard for his brand new jeans. He didn’t look at Zo, instead searching for Giulio’s brightly coloured shirt. Praise Vanessa for making her offspring easy to spot.

“Your lack of faith in our babysitting skills upsets me.”

“You are skilled in many things, Zoroaster. Childcare isn’t one of them.”

“Because  _ you _ are an expert?”

“I never claimed to be.”

Zo leaned on his back with a sigh, eyes closed. “How’s Nessa?”

“Understandably nervous. But she’s the best person they can get for that job. They’ll be lucky to have her.”

“Did you tell them so?”

“I doubt I’ll have to.”

Riario took a sip from the plastic bottle before Zo could tell him better.

He winced and blinked a few times, squinting at the label on the bottle, then at Zo. “That’s not water.”

Zo shook his head, hesitating between laughing and apologizing on Leo’s behalf.

“Who on earth takes  _ vodka _ to the playground?” Riario hissed between clenched teeth, as if the people around them would throw them out if they knew what was inside the bottle.

“Leo.” Zo shrugged. “At least it’s not weed.”

Riario rolled his eyes but took another sip before offering the bottle to Zo. He drank too, smiling at the blond woman who was reading a book on a towel and had looked up a second to make sure her kid was still around.

“Go,” Riario said, nudging Zo in the ribs. “Be careful not to get yourself punched this time.”

“Won’t you patch me up?”

“Leo does the patching up. I’ll bail you out of the police station.”

“Thanks.”

Their arrangement might have seemed a strange one, but it worked for them. Riario had never been a big flirt, and he kept to Leo and Zo. Leo had been incredibly faithful since Riario had stepped into their life - Zo sometimes suspected it was out of fear of losing him. Zo himself...He jokingly said he didn’t want to lose practice, but if the others had asked him to stop, he would have without hesitation. No-one got hurt: whoever Zo flirted with knew he had two other partners, and if Leo or Riario didn’t like Zo’s new flame, they had a discussion about it then saw what to do.

Zo had barely used three of his best pickup lines - all met with flattering success, thank you very much - when Riario put a hand on his shoulder, flashing his most polite smile to both Zo and the woman.

“Do you mind if we borrow him?”

Leo stopped behind them, panting. Zo let Riario pull him to the side.

“What’s going on?”

“We lost Giulio.”

“ _ Leo _ lost Giulio,” Riario said, glaring at Leo, who

“Well, if you had been more careful…”

“I can’t keep him on a leash, can I?” Leo snapped back.

Zo stepped between them. “Okay, fine, don’t fight. He can’t be far.”

Riario sighed and Leo nodded. “Should we spread? We’ll cover more ground.”

“Okay. Let’s gather here in five minutes.”

Zo ran back to the pirate boat. It was Giulio’s favourite spot in the playground. No Giulio there.

Riario checked his watch. Almost 4pm. Giulio would get hungry soon. No Giulio near the icecream trunk.

Leo looked through his notebook until he found a sketch of Giulio and showed it around to every single person he stumbled upon. Still no Giulio.

They met back in their spot in the shade with the growing fear of Vanessa yelling at them for losing her son. Only to find Giulio sat on the towel, sucking methodically on his gourd.

“Where have you been, buddy?” Leo asked, picking him up.

“To the sandbox. You said we would build a castle.”

“Right, I did. Let’s go together.”

Zo would have sworn Riario muttered something that sounded like “Thanks God.”

 

#

 

When Vanessa knocked on the door that evening, she was welcomed inside by her very excited son, who told her everything about the ducks in the pond, and how they had built a sandcastle, and how he was happy she was here but he hoped he could come back soon.

Since she got the job, she would be in need of babysitters for a little longer...


End file.
